Student Assessment News: January 29, 2021 Performance Office January 29, 2021 Archived Student Assessment News [email protected] Remote Proctoring Tool Use the quick links The CSDE continues to strongly recommend that in-person test administration is the preferred below to access articles method for NGSS and Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments this spring. This is and/or sections included in this recommended not only for in-person and hybrid students, but also for fully-remote students newsletter. who can safely take state summative tests in-person. For those fully remote students who are Page 2 unable to test in-person, the CSDE is working to develop a remote proctoring option. Part of the Summative development process is the Remote Proctoring Tool Pilot that is currently being conducted Assessment Updates using the Smarter Balanced and NGSS Interim Assessments. A few important benefits of the Page 3 new Remote Proctoring Tool that will be available for assessing fully-remote students include the ability for test administrators to: Connecticut SAT School Day Updates simultaneously observe all students in a remote test session at once or to select one Page 4 remote student to observe; Special Populations Updates communicate with all remote students in a test session simultaneously through a Page 6 “broadcast” feature on the test administration site; FAFSA Dashboard and FAFSA Challenge communicate with individual remote students through a video and chat feature on the test administration site; Page 7 Eleven Public Schools monitor the item completion status of all students in a remote test session; and/or Earn AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award monitor and initiate any appeals for test irregularities for students in a test session. Page 8 All districts will have access to the Remote Proctoring Tool beginning in February for NGSS and 2020-21 Assessment Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments. Calendar These new features in the Test Delivery System will help to maintain the validity of summative testing in this new remote testing environment this spring. The Office Hours webinar scheduled COVID Resources for for April 8, 2021, will be specific to remote testing and will include information about the new Educators and Families tool set to open for summative testing on April 19, 2021. Please register for the series of Office Hours for 2021 Assessments. 2021 Lt. Governor’s Computing Challenge The 2021 Lt. Gov.’s Computing Challenge is open to students in Grades 3-12. Submissions will be accepted until April 30, 2021. Additional information can be found on the website . Student Assessment News: January 29, 2021 Summative Assessment Updates 2021 Assessment Office Hours Once again the CSDE Performance Office staff will host Office Hour webinars during the 2021 summative assessment window. The CSDE staff and their partner vendor, Cambium Assessment Inc., will provide assessment updates on various topics. Below are the details of the Office Hours and the focus on some of the dates. All webinars will be from 3 – 4 p.m. with the exception of March 15 which will begin at 3:30. Attendees must register for the series and may attend all or some sessions as needed. February 16 and March 15: Connecticut Alternate Assessments/Accessibility and Accommodations April 1 and Every Thursday after until June 3: Standard Office Hours April 8: This date will be dedicated to the Remote Proctoring tool for remote testing of NGSS and Smarter Balanced. These webinars are targeted for any district/school staff who oversees state summative testing for Smarter Balanced, NGSS, CTAA or CTAS. Workshop Materials Thank you for attending the test administration webinars held the week of January 18, 2021. Copies of the slides as well as the recordings for both webinars are available on our web site. General Test Administration Policies Webinar – PowerPoint and Recorded Version Special Populations Webinar – PowerPoint and Recorded Version 2021 Test Manuals Available - (Printed Materials to be Shipped Out in March) Test Coordinator Manual (TCM) - The Test Coordinator Manual provides the District Administrator with information pertinent to the following summative statewide student assessments supported by Cambium Assessment, Inc. (CAI): Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Summative Assessments, the Connecticut Alternate Assessment (CTAA) in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics, and the Connecticut Alternate Science (CTAS) Assessment. Smarter Balanced Summative Test Administration Manual (TAM) - This manual provides information for Test Ad- ministrators (TAs) administering the Smarter Balanced online summative assessments in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. This manual provides procedural and policy guidance to prepare for and administer the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments. NGSS Test Administration Manual (TAM) - This manual provides information for Test Administrators (TAs) adminis- tering the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Test. It outlines rules and policies that should be followed prior to, during, and after test administration. Connecticut Alternate Assessment (CTAA) Test Administration Manual – This manual provides information for the Teacher Administering the Alternate Assessment (TEA) and the District/School Test Coordinator (DC/SC) re- garding policies and procedures for the Connecticut Alternate Assessment (CTAA) for English language arts (ELA) and mathematics to eligible students with significant cognitive disabilities in their school or district. Connecticut Alternate Science Assessment (CTAS): Test Administration Manual – This manual provides information regarding policies, procedures, and preparatory tasks for the administration of the Connecticut Alternate Sci- ence Assessment (CTAS) to eligible students in Grades 5, 8, or 11 with significant cognitive disabilities. 2 Student Assessment News: January 29, 2021 Connecticut SAT School Day Updates Test Coordinator Training Test coordinator training for the 2021 administration of the Connecticut SAT School Day has been scheduled. It is re- quired that test coordinators participate in training each year. The sessions will be recorded and posted to the CSDE Connecticut SAT web site if coordinators are unable to attend the live training. Please submit any questions you have in advance to https://sdect.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7OgnHCv8rOkK3U9 . This will allow us to make sure we address these questions during the sessions. Register for Feb 5, 2021, 9:00-11:00 am at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6219115255930798091 Register for Feb 10, 2021, 2:00-4:00 PM at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/892049589078724365 Register for Feb 11, 2021, 1:00-3:00 PM at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4589237701824361229 2021 Test Manuals Manuals for the 2021 Connecticut SAT School Day have been posted to the CSDE web site. Test Coordinators will re- ceive paper copies of the manuals with the Coordinator Planning Kit which will arrive in schools from February 9-11, 2021. The bulk of the manuals will ship with test materials three weeks prior to testing. SSD Updates The deadline for updating or submitting new accommodations into the SSD Online isFebruary 2, 2021. Additionally, requests for time and one-half (50%) for eligible English learners must be submitted through SSD by February 12. Entries submitted after these deadlines may result in delayed review and approval by the College Board or impact the provision of accommodated test materials prior to the school’s primary test date. Students may not test with accommodations unless approved by the College Board. Some submissions through the SSD Online platform will request additional documentation. For the purposes of the Connecticut SAT School Day, schools do not need to provide any additional documentation. Simply upload this form to overwrite the system. As a reminder, the request for accommodations in SSD should be supported by the student’s disability and need. To expedite the approval process for students with a Physical/Medical category of “Other,” please provide a brief explanation using the drop-down text box to describe the student’s need for that accommodation. This will ensure that student is approved for the most appropriate accommodation(s) to meet their unique needs. For example, if 100 percent (double time) is requested for a student with an “Other” category solely to address his/her anxiety, a more appropriate support may be recommended for that student, such as breaks as needed. In some circumstances, you may be contacted by the CSDE to provide additional information about the student to determine evidence for approval for the requested accommodation(s). Please contact Deirdre Ducharme if you have any questions. 3 Student Assessment News: January 29, 2021 Special Populations Updates Connecticut DRC LAS Links Website The Connecticut DRC LAS Links Website is available for public access to non-secure information related to the LAS Links. The website replaces the DRC Digital Library. Content includes recent communication to English Learner Assessment Coordinators (ELACs), Assessment Administration resources, LAS Links Remote administration resources, Student Testing Experience resources, Technology resources, Remote LAS Links Screener resources, and more. LAS Links Remote Test Administration Guidance On January 4, 2021, the LAS Links Remote Test Administration Guidance Resources memo was sent to all English Learner Assessment